Jasmine Flury

It all began on Rinerhorn

At the very top of international sport, victory is decided by fine margins. At the same time, it is an equation with many unknowns in terms of where the hundredth degrees that make up success come from – or where they are missing. From the good times to the bad, it all began at the Rinerhorn ski area at Destination Davos Klosters. Jasmine Flury took to her skis for the first time aged just three. She herself can’t remember that moment, but according to both her older sisters, who she sought to emulate on the piste, Flury was immediately transfixed. The memory of her first race aged three has faded, too. ‘Dad, where should I stop – the restaurant or the valley station?’ she’s said to have asked at the start.

The world champion from Davos Monstein

Flury grew up a stone’s throw from Rinerhorn, in the little village of Monstein with a population of just 200. She spent her childhood on a farm, with all that entails: dairy cows, chickens and Alpine pigs. Monstein is a Walser village – a little gem with wooden houses. Today, her father and his partner run the restaurant ‘Veltlinerstübli’, which the Flury family has owned since the 19th century. Everyone knows everyone else – of course. It’s no secret that Flury grew up with her two sisters, her two stepbrothers and her half-brother.

‘Having another professional athlete in the family, Jason (Rüesch, a cross-country skier, editor’s note) definitely influenced me, although I never wanted to do cross-country skiing. I’m pleased I can ski downhill and don’t need to climb the mountain (laughing).’ Both travelled to the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2022. Of course, they’re in regular contact – during a ski tour in Davos Klosters, for instance. From an athletic perspective, this is just basic training for Jason, but interval training for her, as Jasmine explains.

An unforgettable World Cup win

The path to the top of the world of sport takes time. It was in February 2023 at the Ski World Championships in Méribel, France, that everything took off. Shortly before, Jasmine made a few changes: she switched up her equipment and took a new approach to mental training. She also spent the summer before the Ski World Cup at home rather than overseas. ‘I worked hard not to get mentally stuck on the one turn that didn’t work,’ says Flury. With great success: she’s the first ever World Cup winner from Grisons, and the first gold medal winner from the canton in the downhill category. She shares this moment with her best friend Corinne Suter, who won bronze in Méribel. Her next big sporting goal is the Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo and Milan 2026, as she reveals in the brief interview below. Then it’s time to tackle the Tofana-Schuss, one of her favourite courses, at 130 kilometres per hour. The skis will scrape over the icy spots, which means it’s that time again – she mustn’t put a foot wrong. Holding the line and pushing to the limit – without hesitation or fear.